


first things first

by Irratia



Series: shining bright - the idiot adventures [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Disaster Gay Alex, Disaster Queer Willie, F/M, Kissing, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Swearing, and lots of it!!!!, hhhhh y'all I'm so soft for found family so that's what this is, they are soft, they're all running on one braincell that's begging for mercy, they're back at it again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:07:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27964286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irratia/pseuds/Irratia
Summary: i. Willie is nervous. He doesn’t even actually know why, but there’s a coil of anxiety in his gut, twisting and turning and making him rub the scar on his arm with his thumb while he walks up to the house.ii. Alex walks into the garage for band practice later than everyone else, as he does every Wednesday.Today’s been a good day and he can’t wait to try out the new song they’ve been working on.iii. Alex shows up at 11pm on a Thursday night, and rings Willie’s doorbell.ORA trilogy of firsts in Willie and Alex's relationship.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: shining bright - the idiot adventures [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989781
Comments: 43
Kudos: 288





	first things first

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all!  
> First off, this is a continuation of my "shining bright" willex-fic series, the first two aren't neccessessary(?) to read for this but, well. It adds some background, so yeah.  
> Also thank you so much for the lovely reception of the two oneshots before, it makes me incredibly happy and I'm sorry I take so long to answer to comments, it gives me ~anxiety~ but I read every single one and love them!  
> I'm back with some more of my willex bullshit. I honestly have no idea what happened here, I had a wholeass plan for this and somehow it got away from me. It's just dumbassery but I still like it so here y'all go. I love them a lot. I hope you enjoy! :D

i. meeting the parents

Willie is nervous. He doesn’t even actually know why, but there’s a coil of anxiety in his gut, twisting and turning and making him rub the scar on his arm with his thumb while he walks up to the house.  
Alex is also nervous. Possibly more so than Willie, which he finds kind of ironic considering Alex has assured him everything will be fine just an hour ago and also multiple times every day for the past week. And Willie is actually pretty certain that things will go well, but he can’t help his heart racing in his chest and the twisting anxiety in his gut and being extremely glad that Alex isn’t holding his hands at the moment because they are _so_ sweaty.  
They stop at the wooden front door, and lock eyes.

“We’ll be fine,” Alex says, looking at Willie but he can tell that his boyfriend is trying to convince himself. He nods.

“You said they’re nice, so it’ll be fine,” he says.

It’s Alex's turn to nod. He wipes his right hand on his pants then takes Willie’s left one. At least both of them have sweaty hands.

“Yeah. They’ve been asking about you a lot. So. We’ll be fine. You’ll be fine,”

“It’s gonna go well,”

“Okay. Yeah. They’re gonna love you, everyone does,” Alex says, quietly, nodding to himself.

Willie blushes. “Stop complimenting me, Hotdog, I don’t want to be beet red when I meet them,” he protests.

Alex snorts and nods.

“Okay, we got this!” he says, a bit louder, more confident now.

“We do,” Willie agrees.

“Kiss for good luck?”

“Please,”

Alex grins, and cups Willie’s jaw with his left hand, before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Only a quick one, a peck, really, because they don’t want to make out on the front porch, and also they’ve been standing here for a good few minutes so that’s getting to be somewhat awkward if somebody’s seen them already.  
They part, Alex brushes a stray strand of hair behind Willie’s ear and they both give each other a last reassuring nod before turning to the door.  
Hand clasped tight in Alex’s, Willie reaches for the doorbell.  
He hasn’t even pulled his index finger back entirely, when the door flies open.

A small boy with curly brown hair and big brown eyes stares up at them.  
Carlos, Willie knows, because Alex has briefed him on the Molina family. A lot.  
And also because he sometimes appears in Julie’s and Reggie’s photos on Instagram.

“Took you long enough,” Carlos says.

“Carlos!” a female voice chides in the background.

Before Willie can really get his bearings, a beautiful woman with brown skin and curly black hair appears. She looks kind and smiles at them and he would have known that this is Julie’s mother even without being prepared by Alex.

“Sorry,” Carlos says, not sounding sorry at all.

“I’m sorry about him, come in you two,” Mrs. Molina says and smiles warmly.

She greets Alex with a hug after he steps through the door into the house, and lets go of Willie’s hand.  
Willie follows but ends up standing in the entryway to the house somewhat awkwardly as Carlos gets a fistbump from his boyfriend and a tall and handsome man comes up behind Mrs. Molina.  
Willie knows that that is Julie’s father, and he also hugs Alex, before they all turn to Willie.

“So. Okay, uhm. Rose, Ray. Carlos. This uh- this is my boyfriend Willie,” Alex stutters out and makes a vague gesture into Willie’s direction.

“Hey,” Willie manages and gives a lame wave of the hand while smiling awkwardly. He should be better at this.

Rose reacts first, stepping to him and giving him a hug.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Willie. Alex has told us a lot about you,” she says. The resemblance to her daughter really is uncanny, Willie thinks, as he watches her. Not only in looks but also in character, and some mannerisms.

“Thank you, it’s very nice to meet you too, Mrs. Molina,” he says.

Can’t say he isn’t polite, his dad has made sure that he knows etiquette.

“Oh, Rose is fine,” she laughs.

Willie nods, and she steps to the side to let her husband through.

“So, this is the boy you’ve gnawing our ear off about, huh?” he says, shooting a quick glance at Alex who’s cheeks gain some colour immediately.

Not that Willie’s don’t, but it’s a lot more entertaining to watch his boyfriend blush. Willie extends his left hand, unsure of what to do and stammers a:

“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” but the man just chuckles and pulls him into a hug.

“Ray is fine, Willie. I’m glad we finally get to meet you, we’ve heard so much about you from everyone,”

“Yeah, it’s really annoying. Alex never shuts up about you and Reggie isn’t much better! I’m Carlos, by the way,” the boy chimes in and Rose sighs.

Carlos just gives Willie a fist bump and scampers off, leaving him behind, stunned.

“Reggie’s such a bad influence on him,” Alex mumbles apologetically.

“I am not!” Reggie protests and Willie suddenly spots him half hidden at the top of the staircase that is directly oppiste the front door he's still standing in. He comes bounding down the steps and greets Willie with the handshake they've started working on.

“Well, Willie. We’re really thrilled to meet you. Dinner will be done soon, and I know for a fact that the boys are itching to show you their studio so we’ll call you up,” Rose says and gives him another warm smile.

Reggie and Alex grin sheepishly on either side of him, and he barely manages to get out a thank you before they pull him out the front door again and lead him through the Molina’s garden down a path and to the garage he's heard so much about. Alex takes his hand again and Willie can physically feel the relief in him.

“They’re pretty chill, huh?” he says.

“Hell yeah they are,” Reggie says, throwing the doors to the garage open.

“Willie! We were wondering when you’d get here!” Julie says and comes bounding up, to throw her arms around him.

Luke gets up from where he’s been sitting on a fluffy white carpet, a notebook and some papers strewn around him. He gives Willie a quick hug and grins.

“So what d’you think of our studio?” he asks.

“Okay- he hasn’t even been in it yet, Luke, calm the fuck down,” Alex says.

Willie’s ushered inside, and in awe immediately.  
On the left side of the doors are the instruments. He recognizes Alex’s drum kit (of course), and the guitars and bass as well as a keyboard. A grand piano fills the back of the, well, it’s a studio, and a couch is pushed to the right wall where a few armchairs and a coffee table stand. There are lots of plants and-

“Why are there chairs on the ceiling?” he asks.

“It’s a stylistic choice from mom, I don’t know why;” Julie says, while the boys start laughing.

“We all asked that question when we first saw the studio,” Alex explains.

“Come look at the loft,” Reggie says and scampers up a sort of ladder, with excited energy basically radiating off of him.

Willie follows. He’s not going to lie, he’s been somewhat curious to see the place Alex goes to sleep when he isn’t home. It’s a lot nicer than he thought.  
The loft is bigger than he thought, and a dresser with name-labelled drawers stands next to the stairs.  
The mattress is really, really big, filling almost all of the space. It’s covered in blankets and pillows, some plush animals. The wooden railing is wrapped with fairy lights, the ceiling plastered with pictures of the guys, and Julie, and posters and tickets from their gigs. It’s cozy. Lived in.

“Nice, right?” Reggie asks, from where he’s already sprawled out on the mattress.

“Yeah, it is,” Willie agrees, trying to take it all in.

He climbs the last few steps, followed by Alex and then Julie and Luke. It gets tight for them, and everyone except him immediately crawls onto the mattress.  
Julie pulls Alex down and hangs onto him like a koala, Luke tackles Reggie onto his back, both of them laughing. Willie watches, but not for long.

“Come here,” Julie commands.

“You sure?” he asks, uncertain.

The mattress seems kind of like a.. sacred space. Their space.  
She untangles herself from Alex and grips at his shirt, pulling him until he can’t do anything but fall onto it.

“I’m sure, Willie,” she tells him, and smiles.

Willie doesn’t know why, but he feels a bit choked up all of a sudden. This place, this space is important to all of them. It’s their safe space, where they all can be themselves and where they come to hide from the shitty, shitty things in their lives. And they’ve invited him into it.

Julie seems to realize what’s going through his mind, the other boys have somehow gotten themselves into a wrestling match and not really paxing attention to them.

“Alex cares a lot about you, you care a lot about him. Me and my parents wouldn’t have invited you to have dinner with us, if we didn’t trust you with him. We love him, a lot, and I’m pretty sure you won’t, but if you ever hurt him, I’ll break you,” she says.

Her voice gets quieter and more intense the more she speaks. Willie swallows.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” he says, just as quietly as she does.

Julie smiles.

“I know, but he did the same for me and Luke, so I’m returning the favour,” she says.

Then she crawls close and throws her arms around him best as she can in the space they have and while they’re both sort of lying down.

“You’re part of the Molina family now, initiated by lying on this mattress. Only one ritual is left,” she annonces loudly, giggling all of a sudden.

“What?” he asks, but she doesn’t explain, just grins, and then Alex flings himself at him, followed by Reggie. Luke knocks the air out of him, falling on top of him.

“The Cuddle Pile is the ritual you have to go through, William. It is a sacred tradition,” he explains.

Willie is squished between all four teens, Julie on his right, Alex on his left, with Reggie kind of on top of Alex and Willie at the same time, and Luke directly on top of him, and yes, somewhat uncomfortable, but also moved.

“You probably won’t have to sleep here, and let’s hope you don’t, but if you do, the door is always open and I’m pretty sure Ray and Rose love you already,” Reggie says.

Willie looks at him.

“You think so?”

“They do,” Alex says.

He wiggles a bit and gets one hand out from under himself that he uses to card some of the loose strands of hair out of Willie’s face. 

“They’re great judges of character,” Luke says reassuringly.

“Thank you for letting me in here, I'm sure this means a lot to you. It's an honour, I think," Willie says. 

He means it. 

“Aw, dude, that’s so sweet,” Reggie says.

“Yeah, now get off me, you’re heavy,” Alex groans as the other boy tries to hug Willie with one arm.

“Rude!”

“You are!”

“Now now, kids, calm down,” Julie says teasingly, taking one of Luke’s arms and pulling him over to her.

Reggie also rolls off Alex and Willie and suddenly they’re still cuddling, but Willie can breathe a little better, at least.

“Okay, Reg, we can fit one significant other in here I think, but that’s it. We’re out of capacity otherwise,” Julie says.

Reggie gasps and looks up from where he’s pillowed his head on Alex’s shoulder.

“What if I have two though?”

“Then Luke will sleep on the floor,” Alex says.

Everyone but Luke starts giggling.

“How about you sleep on the floor, you dick? And I’ll cuddle with Willie all night!”

“No one sleeps on the floor, we’ll manage!” Julie interrupts, before they have the chance to get into one of their nonsensical discussions, that Willie's been witness to a lot over the last few weeks.

“Get your greedy little fingers off my boyfriend, Patterson, or I’ll make sure your guitars are out of tune,” Alex says, voice dry, and throwing a threatening glare at his best friend while shuffling even closer.

Willie laughs at that, and Luke pretends to mutter something, but is cut off when Julie smacks his forehead to stop him. She kisses the spot soon after, because Luke makes puppy eyes at her.

“This is nice,” Willie says into the comfortable silence that follows.

“Yeah, we’re lucky you’re a touchy kind of person because Alex is as well, my mans would die if you weren’t,” Reggie says and gets a pillow in the face for it.

“But I mean it, this is really comfy and nice and so homey. I don’t have anything like this in my house, dad insists to keep everything pristine except my room in case the press ever want to come round,” he says.

“Well, you’ll just have to come here very often,” Alex says softly.

Julie's grip on his arm tightens in confirmation, and Reggie reaches over Alex to pat his arm.

“Yeah, we expect you at at least one practice per week,” Luke says.

“I think I can manage that,” 

Below them the sounds of footsteps approach.

“Told you they’d be up there, pay up, dad,” Carlos says.

Rustling, a loud sigh. They start giggling.

“Okay, kiddos. Come down, dinner’s ready. And stop hogging Alex’s boyfriend, we want to learn more about him,” Ray calls up. 

Willie feels his face go red and the others giggle at him.  
It’s a struggle for them to untangle and get down the ladder without injury, because especially Luke and Reggie seem to be in a rush.  
Carlos grins at the ten dollar bill in his hands, and Ray watches them fondly.  
He gives Willie a big smile, then berates Reggie for running and almost tripping.  
Alex slides his fingers between Willie’s and smiles. He’s a lot more relaxed than he was half an hour ago, and while Willie still feels the tiniest bit afraid that the Molina’s won’t like him, he’s calmer as well.

They settle around the big dining table that’s laden with food Willie vaguely recognizes which smells amazing, and Rose says a quick prayer, thanking for the company and the food, before they eat.  
It’s amazing.  
And the atmosphere is relaxed.

Willie had come in prepared to answer countless questions about himself, but they mostly just chat about school and how the band is coming along. Carlos demands Willie to tell him everything about being a skater, and lights up when he promises to find one of his old ones for him to practice on.

After dinner, and helping with the washing up, they wander into the living room.  
Reggie sprawls himself into one armchair, with Carlos at his side, while Ray and Rose take a loveseat and Willie is squeezed onto the couch with Alex, Julie and Luke. Alex intertwines their hands again and leans his head on his shoulder.  
Willie looks at him, and can’t help but press a quick kiss onto the top of Alex’s head, the soft golden hair tickling on his chin. He then becomes aware that everyone in the room is watching them.

“So, Willie, how did you two meet? Alex hasn’t been kind enough to share that with us,” Rose inquires, a curious look on her face. Ray nods fervently next to her.

“You haven’t?” Willie asks Alex, surprised.

“It’s embarrassing,” Alex mumbles.

“More for Willie than you, though. You embarrassed yourself enough later,” Julie says.

“Julie, why do you hate me,” Alex laments before Willie can get a word in.

“Kids,” Ray interrupts.

Willie’s pretty sure that both of the adult Molina’s are well aware that these jokey discussions between her daughter's friends can go on for a while, hell, even he knows that and he’s been Alex’s official boyfriend for barely a month.

“Right, where do we start? Okay, uh,” Alex says, then trails off and looks at Willie helplessly.

Willie decides to just rip the bandaid off.

“I, uhm. I kind of ran Alex over with my skateboard on accident,” Willie admits.

Carlos starts cackling immediately, Ray chokes on his sip of wine.

“So that’s why your hands were scraped up?” Rose asks Alex.

“Yeah? I’m sorry I lied, but I wasn’t sure about how things were gonna go with Willie yet and so I didn’t tell you two,” Aley says quickly, rushing to explain himself, but Rose raises a hand and smiles.

“That’s fine, mijo, I was just wondering,” she says.

Alex lets out a breath and squeezes Willie's hand. He still feels guilty because of that.

“So, you ran Alex over, what happened next?” Ray asks, recovered from coughing and grinning now.

Willie looks at Alex who looks back, and gives him a tiny smile. Willie takes that as the sign he’s going to tell the story.

“Okay, so I accidentally ran him over, and kind of panicked, because I don’t like running over people in general, but especially not Alex, because I- uh, I’d kind of had this tiny crush on him for a while and this wasn’t exactly how I imagined our first interaction to go, but he was pretty cool about it, and I patched up his hands and we talked for the afternoon and sort of stayed in contact after? Carrie forced me to join Dance Club, so she could watch over me and make sure I talked to Alex. And we kind of started hanging out more after that,” Willie explains.

“It’s honestly a miracle it worked out,” Luke pipes up.

“Yeah, from what Flynn and I’ve heard from Carrie and Kayla they were both as dense as Alex,” Julie says.

“Okay, I was just trying not to assume," Alex's voice goes higher, as he tries to defend himself.

“He held your hands! On multiple occasions!” Luke says, loudly.

“I didn’t want to pressure him into anything,” Willie says to the Molinas.

Rose smiles at him, and somehow, in her warm gaze, Willie can read that this is the point where she’s accepted him into her family.  
Neither of them voice it, but he can’t help the thankful grin pulling at his mouth, and she inclines her wineglass to him, a tiny bit, an indication that she knows he knows.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you were run over by him and still decided to date him - no offence, Willie,” Ray says.

“Ray, this is a lid you want to keep closed, Alex can and will rant about everything that makes Willie perfect the second he gets the opportunity,” Luke says quickly, just as Alex opens his mouth. He shuts it again, looking embarassed, and Willie's tempted to make a comment.

“So, hey, Alex. Willie crashed into you and you fell, yeah?” Reggie says, suddenly.

There’s a tone to his voice that has Willie looking at him and Alex tensing up.

“Yeah? You know the story, Reg,” Alex says slowly.

“So.” Reggie says.

He’s sitting up, so slow it’s almost slow motion.

“Reggie, whatever you’re thinking about, don’t,” Alex says.

“So, you could say,” Reggie continues, a shit eating grin spreading across his face.

“Don’t,”

“You could say that-”

“Reggie,”

“That you fell-”

“Reggie, I’m warning you,”

“You could say that you fell-”

“I will literally kill you if you finish that sentence,”

“You could say that you fell for Willie,” Reggie says, laughs once and then squeals while jumping off the armchair.

Alex launches himself off of the couch and at Reggie, who somehow manages to run and cackle maniacally at the same time. Ray throws his head back and laughs, Carlos cheers Reggie on. Julie and Luke dissolve into a hysterically giggling pile, Rose shakes her head but laughs all the same and Willie can’t help joining in, as he watches his boyfriend chase Reggie around the room for a few moments. Alex's face is pinched in concentration, his hair wild, and Willie decides to fuck with his boyfriend.

“Hey, Alex, darling?” he calls.

Alex stops short. ‘Darling’ is a new nickname, and Willie knows exactly what he’s doing.  
Reggie comes to a stop behind Ray, who’s wiping tears from his eyes.

“I really swept you off your feet, huh?” he says.

“Friendship with Alex cancelled, now Willie is my best friend,” Reggie says, while Ray breaks into a new fit of laughter and Rose puts her head in her hands, shoulders shaking.

Willie doesn’t know if Julie and Luke are still breathing, and Carlos keeps cackling on his armchair. But he keeps his eyes locked with Alex who stares at him.

“Willie, please. You know I’ll laugh at anything you say, don’t do this,” he says.

“Would you say I rocked your world?”

“Willie, please,” Alex says, and Willie can see he’s fighting a laugh.

“But I crashed your life in the best way possible, right?”

“I hate you,” Alex says, but gives in.

“Victory!” Reggie yells and tackles Willie on the couch.

“Well done,” Ray says, still laughing and wiping tears from under his eyes.

Willie feels his chest swell with pride. Something about Ray wants him to make the man proud.

Alex still tries his hardest not to actually laugh, and slinks back over.

“Move,” he says to Reggie who’s still hugging Willie and giggling to himself.

Alex settles back into Willie's side and throws Reggie one dirty look before ruffling his hair and pulling him into a sideway hug. Julie and Luke, who are also still giggling and out of breath join from the other side, and once again, Willie finds himself in a sort of cuddle pile.

The light in the room spills oranges and yellows over them, and they’re all laughing and giggling, and grinning at each other, and he catches Rose and Ray looking at him and they smile at him with such genuinely fond looks in their eyes, and Carlos throws himself into Luke’s lap and Alex mouths an “I hate you,” at him with a soft look in his eyes and disheveled hair shining gold and Willie knows he’s found a new family today.

ii. sharing clothes

Alex walks into the garage for band practice later than everyone else, as he does every Wednesday.  
Today’s been a good day and he can’t wait to try out the new song they’ve been working on. The others are scattered across the room, halfheartedly attempting to do their homework. They greet him from the floor and the couch as he moves to the side to add his backpack to the pile that’s already there.

“You’re wearing two different socks,” Reggie notices, lying on his back and craning his neck so he can watch Alex.

Alex looks at his feet. The sock on his left foot is bright yellow, and has bees printed on them. The right sock is blue with hot pink flamingos.

“I’m aware,” he says.

“Cool. Why though,” Luke says from the sofa.

Alex blushes a bit,

“Willie and I each bought a pair for each other but ended up liking them so much we decided we’d keep one of each,” he admits.

It’s a bit embarrassing to say out loud, but when him and Willie were hanging out on the weekend they’d challenged each other to find the most obnoxious pair of socks for the other.

Alex had found the bee ones, Willie the flamingo ones.

“Aw, that’s cute,” Reggie says.

“Yeah, we are,” Willie says from behind Alex, who jumps a bit.

After Dance Club they’d gone to the Molina's house together, but Carlos absolutely loves Willie and usually doesn’t let him go for at least half an hour. He’s learning how to skateboard at the moment, and obviously needs Willie to help.

“Sorry,” Willie mumbles, and presses a quick kiss to his cheek before pulling him over to one of the armchairs, where they settle in together, Willie throws his legs over Alex’s lap, who puts his arm around Willie’s shoulder and starts playing with a strand on his hair.

“You’re disgusting,” Luke says, from where he’s sitting on the couch with Julie in his lap and his arms around her waist.

“No we’re not,” Alex says.

“Yes you are. You pretended to throw up everytime I so much as looked at Jules for a month last year,”

“Yeah, ‘cause you were disgusting,”

Willie snorts, Reggie sits up and mimes eating popcorn. Julie rolls her eyes.

“No I wasn’t! How come you get to wear matching socks but I don’t get to love my girlfriend, without being made fun of, huh?” Luke protests, louder now.

“Gay rights,” Alex says, deadpan.

Reggie starts laughing.

“I’m pan, you dick!”

“You’re being homophobic by saying my boyfriend and I are disgusting,” Alex says, fighting the urge to grin, as he feels Willie shake with quiet laughter next to him.

“If I wasn’t hugging Julie right now I’d kill you,”

“Disgusting,”

“You’re sharing socks with your boyfriend, how am I the disgusting one?!”

“Okay, boys, I think it’s time to calm down. Hi, Willie, by the way,” Julie interrupts, because Luke is getting worked up enough that he’s jostling her around a bit.

Alex knows from experience that she’s much like a cat, once she’s settled in comfortably she doesn’t tolerate movement until she wants to get up.

“Heya Julie,” Willie says.

He then lowers his voice to a mocking whisper “Are they always like this?”

As if Alex isn’t literally right next to him.

Julie leans forward, still in Luke’s lap and covers his mouth with her hand, when he opens it to protest.

“Always, I don’t know if anyone’s told you yet, but all the boys in my band are idiots,” she says.

Willie laughs. Alex, Luke and Reggie protest in unison.

“Cute idiots, though,” Willie says.

Julie agrees, which placates Luke. Reggie crawls up the couch and immediately gets pulled in, so that he’s cuddling Julie and Luke.  
Willie asks about the new song and Luke immediately starts talking with the others interjecting at times. They usually spend at least an hour talking before they actually start practicing and today is no different.

Willie takes Alex’s free hand and starts fiddling with his fingers. It’s comfortable and calm and Alex feels at peace until Reggie gasps, laughs and sits up, grinning excitedly.

“Yo, Alex, you know what I’ve just realized?” Reggie says, and his eyes shine with glee.

“What, Reg?” he sighs.

“You’ve kissed every single person in this room,”

Shocked silence settles for a second, before they erupt. Luke starts laughing loudly. Julie gasps a loud “Oh shit, that’s right!”

Willie's eyebrows shoot up and he looks at Alex with surprise. “You have?” 

“Dude, we talked about tact!” Alex says and glares at Reggie who just cackles right alongside Luke.

“Kinda yeah,” he then says to Willie.

“Even Julie?!” Willie asks, sounding incredulous.

“Hey!” Julie protests, but she’s laughing as well.

“In my defence, all of the kisses were years ago, and none of them were very good,” Alex says, slightly nervous now, because he can’t really read how Willie feels about this and he hopes this hasn’t destroyed anything. Willie, who's gotten ridiculously good at sensing his moods in the month and two weeks they've been dating now, squeezes his hand in reassurance. It calms him down a bit.

“Ouch, bro,” Luke says, overexaggerated hurt swinging in his voice.

“Querido, you weren’t a great kisser when we started dating,” Julie says teasingly.

Luke gives a dramatic gasp.

“But you learned a lot, so,” she adds. He kisses her.

“I don’t mind, I was just surprised,” Willie says. “Especially by Julie, because you’re y’know,” he trails off, gesturing to Alex.

“A drummer?” Reggie asks.

“Reggie- okay,” Alex starts, while Willie starts giggling.

“What? Both Nick and Luke play guitar, and those are the only guys she’s ever had a crush on, so?” Reggie tries to defend himself.

Luke and Julie have broken apart and are shaking their heads, but grinning.

“Oh my God, Reg. I love you dude, but fucking hell,” Luke says, but the fondness in his voice betrays him.

“Because Alex is, y’know,” Willie prompts again, Reggie still looks confused.

“Very gay,” Alex finishes the sentence.  
“Julie was my ‘maybe I’m not actually gay’ kiss, but. Well. We all know how that one worked out,” he adds, turning to Willie.

“And good thing it did,” Willie says, shifting closer. Alex moves to meet him in a small kiss.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But honestly, Alex just has Willie on us,” Reggie says.

“True. We’ve all kissed at least once,” Julie says.

“Y’all are weird,” Willie notes, but he just sounds amused.

“Okay, let me explain,” Luke says defensively.

“You don’t have to-” Willie tries, but Alex shushes him.

“Let the man talk, he won’t shut the fuck up if you don’t,” he says quietly and adds a tiny kiss on Willie’s nose for good measure. He knows that his boyfriend has a weak spot for that. And true to form Willie blushes and grins and keeps quiet.

“I’ll ignore that, because it’s rude, you dick. But okay. So. I mean, it’s obvious why Julie and I have kissed, I guess. Alex, Reggie and I wanted to try to see what it was like, when we were like, 12, I like to think that I’m the reason he realized he’s gay-”

“You’re not,” Alex interrupts, while Julie sends an exasperated look to the sky and shakes her head softly.

Reggie and Willie start giggling.

“Whatever. Anyway. It wasn’t great, ‘cause we were all 12 and stuff, but that was that with Alex, and then Reggie and I made out a bit when we were like 15 or something because Alex coming out made us realize we weren’t straight and we wanted to confirm it. So yeah,”

“Reg and I also kissed to confirm our sexualities, but like, the opposite way to Alex. We wanted to make sure we weren’t gay,” Julie adds.

They all grin at Willie.

Alex pulls his gaze away from Luke, so he can look at his boyfriend, who opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again and then sighs.

“That honestly explains so much about you,” he says. “For the record, I don’t blame anyone for kissing Alex, because look at him, but I’m glad you’re all past that phase,” he adds.

Alex blushes.

“Des-gus-tang,” Luke says in his worst British Accent.

Alex flips him off, much to the delight of Reggie.

They actually start practicing not much later, after a passionate discussion about seahorses that Reggie started.

Alex puts in his earplugs and twirls his drumsticks in his fingers. Julie shoots him a knowing look.  
Okay, so maybe he likes to show off when Willie is there, but so what? It’s not his fault that he feels like he’s floating every time Willie keeps his eyes fixed on him, and his mouth falls open the tiniest bit and a tiny smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. He can't help having a beautiful boyfriend that he somehow manages to impress.

They launch into a few of their older songs to warm up, the odd song they picked up from the radio, before they actually start working on their newest song.  
It’s a Juke Original, as they’ve taken to calling it, clearly a love song, but one that isn’t too obnoxious. It’s nice.  
Working out how exactly to play it isn’t, because at times he just has to sit still and listen to them discuss the best way to go about things. Sometimes, like now, he ignores that and has a bit of fun with his drums.  
Not too much, not too loud, because Luke will throw his pen at him otherwise, but it’s fun, and helps him push aside the fact that this song constantly makes him think of Willie, and it’s too fucking early in their relationship to think about 'love'. The thought also scares him, because he’s so, so young and how would he actually know what love feels like?

So he ignores those thoughts and feelings.

“Alex, not now,” Luke snaps inbetween discussion with Reggie.

He sighs, and starts drumming on his thighs. Willie gets up from the couch and makes his way over to him, while the other three discuss something about the baseline.

“Hey, Alex, babe? My dude, my bro?” Willie says, a bit too casually.

Alex looks at him.

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember how yesterday you told me not to wear shorts today?”

“I- yeah?” Alex repeats, shooting a quick look at Willie’s shorts and exposed calves where the socks sit obnoxiously. He'd read the wather report and told WIllie that today would be a bit chilly outside, because he knows that Willie doesn't really like wearing full-lenght pants.

Willie nods.

“So, funny story, I didn’t listen and now I’m kinda cold?” Willie says, his smile is somewhat apologetic.

“For fucks sake,” Aex sighs, and gets up.

He points a finger at Willie’s chest to make his point.

“I told you you’d get cold when you sit still for too long after Dance Club, because I knew what would happen, but you didn’t listen,”

“I know, I’m sorry,”

“Okay- stop. Don’t make me feel bad for you, this is your own fault,” Alex says, and walks over to his backpack.

“I really hope you learn your lesson from this, I don’t want you to get a cold,” he says and pulls out his pink hoodie.

“Now wear this, because if you get sick I can’t kiss you, and also you can’t dance with me, both of which would be terrible, also you can’t skate,” he continues, and passes it over to Willie who follows him. He’s also grinning a little, after he realized that Alex isn't actually mad at him. As if he could be mad at Willie, with his deep brown eyes and warm sking and soft lips and amazing personality.

“I don’t want to hear you complain about being called the mom friend ever again, Hotdog. Thank you,” he says.

Alex turns to see his friends grin at him, song forgotten. He shoots them a dirty look and starts back to the drums.

“Oh shit, that’s really soft,” Willie says behind him.

“Yeah, I take good care of it-” Alex says, turning slightly to look at Willie.

He trips over some of the cables on the floor because. Holy shit. He realizes this is the first time they’ve like, actually shared clothes. The socks are one thing, because they just both own them like that, but this? This is actually sharing clothes and in theory he knows he’s bigger than Willie but seeing the other boy in his hoodie just makes the point clear.

First of all, Willie also looks good in pink.

Secondly, the sleeves are slightly too long for him, and it’s baggy around the shoulders and it’s Alex’s hoodie, and Willie is wearing it, and for some reason that makes his brain short circuit.

He stumbles over the cables, only saved from falling by Reggie’s quick reflexes.

“You good?” Luke asks, and the glint in his eye promises Alex future embarrassment.

But holy shit.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just tripped,” he says, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat.

“Sure,” Reggie says, a smug grin plastered on his face.

Alex decides to ignore it and takes the few steps back to Willie.

“Are you okay? And won’t you get cold later?” the other boy asks.

He pulls his hair out, and Alex watches the chocolate coloured strands spill over his hoodie.

“I won’t because I’ll be drumming and also because I know how to dress appropriately,” Alex says.

Then, because he’s very gay and he can’t stop himself, he kisses Willie, who kisses back immediately. Not too long, because they’re both aware that his friends are watching. 

“What was that for?” Willie asks, softly.

“You look cute in my hoodie,” Alex admits.

“It’s very comfortable,” Willie says, grinning up at Alex.

“Good, c’mon, there’s a chair behind the drums and also less airflow, so you won’t get cold around the knees,” he says, after clearing his throat.

Willie settles down next to him, far enough away that Alex can do his thing but also still close enough, and Alex gives him a new pair of earplugs from his fanny pack.  
They get back into practicing, and things flow better than before. Alex keeps glancing to his side whenever he can, where Willie sits, socks bright and matching his, hands buried in the front pocket of his hoodie, nodding along to the music and smiling at Alex. Alex decides that he definitely needs to steal one of Willie’s hoodies at one point.

iii. sharing a bed

Alex shows up at 11pm on a Thursday night, and rings Willie’s doorbell.

Willie, who is in the process of getting ready for bed nearly has a heart attack when the chime rings through the house, but can’t press the button for the gate fast enough when he sees Alex in the surveillance camera.

Still in his boxers and an old shirt he flies out the front door and down the driveway, to find Alex, fiddling almost aggressively with his fanny pack, in front of the gate.

“I’m really sorry, I know it’s late and that you were probably asleep, I’m really sorry if I woke you up, but I didn’t know where else to got because I was at Julie’s just two days ago and I don’t want to annoy them and Reggie is there already and Luke too, probably, and you said I could come by if I needed to, it’s totally cool if you don’t want me here but I thought it was worth a try because I just can’t stay at home tonight, I’m sorry,” Alex basically vomits a shaky, way too fast explanation at Willie the second he sees him and his voice cracks on the last words.

Willie pulls the gate open.

“It’s totally okay that you’re here Alex, come on,” he says, and holds out his left hand.

Worry twists in his gut, because he’s never actually seen Alex this distressed and he absolutely hates it.  
He also doesn’t want his boyfriend out on the street any longer, because Alex seems to be hanging onto his composure by almost nothing.  
He’s read somewhere that people with anxiety sometimes don’t like to be touched when it gets bad, and although Alex usually likes pysical contact he isn’t sure about how things are now.

Alex takes his hand and holds on as if for dear life.

“Thank you,” he says, voice now barely above a whisper.

Willie gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, closes the gate and starts leading Alex back up to his home.

“My dad isn’t home, and even if he were, I don’t think this would be a problem. When I said you can come by any time, I meant it, okay Alex? You really can come by whenever you need. Also I’m pretty sure the Molina’s wouldn’t be annoyed by you,” he says, trying to reassure Alex.

“I know that, logically, but,”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to explain. Let’s just get you inside,” Willie cuts him off. Alex doesn't need to rant himself into more stress, by trying to explain that he knows his anxiety is making him think things that he knows aren't true. Willie knows that as well, and tries to think of a way to make Alex stop overthinking.

He locks the front door behind them, takes Alex’s jacket and hangs it up, puts Alex's backpack to the side and thinks about what to do next.  
It seems that the interior has taken Alex out of his anxiety a bit, because he’s just staring at the long, white foyer that opens into a big living room, looking around.

“I knew you were wealthy, but you’re like, actually rich,” he says, worries apparently forgotten for the moment.

Willie can’t help the uncomfortable laugh that escapes him. He doesn’t like flaunting the wealth he was adopted into.

“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbles.

Then he moves towards Alex again.

“Do you want a hug?” he asks, softly, because he himself always loves a good hug when things get to be a bit too much.

Alex’s shoulders tense up again, and he nods, almost throwing himself at Willie who catches him and holds on tight.

“Before you start, you don’t have to talk about it, okay? I’m here if you want to, but I’m also here if you don’t,” he says.

Alex exhales a shaky breath and squeezes his arms around Willie tighter, burrows his face into the side of his neck.  
Willie holds him. Minutes pass, in silence. Then Alex softens his grip and pulls back.

“Thanks,” he mumbles.

Willie gives him a smile and feels the worry in his gut loosen up, when Alex gives a tiny smile back.  
No matter how often he sees them, his boyfriend’s smiles are always breathtaking.

Then an idea strikes him.

“Hey, babe, remember how I told you I like to scream in my living room when I’m stressed?” he says.

Alex tilts his head a little, scrutinizing him.

“I- yeah? I kinda thought you were making that up to be honest,” he says.

“Okay, well, rude. But also, we’re gonna do that now,” Willie says and pushes Alex into the open room.

A glass front offers a view into the backyard, although at night it’s not really visible.  
Willie brings them to a stop near one of the sofas and grins at his boyfriend.

“Okay, what you’re gonna do is think of what makes you feel stressed and just scream, okay dude? Just like, let it all out as loud as you want, and I promise it’ll make you feel better,” he explains.

Alex doesn’t look convinced.

“I’ll demonstrate,” Willie says, thinks of the fact that Alex showed up at his house in the middle of the night because of his shitty parents and screams.

It echoes a tiny bit, because the living room is too fucking big, and he grins at Alex.

“Okay,” Alex says, clears his throat.

Gives a pathetic attempt at a screen. Willie starts laughing.

“No, dude, c’mon. You gotta put your heart into it, I promise I won’t judge and also the neighbours are far away so they won’t think someone’s getting murdered in here. Just do it with me,” he says.

This helps.  
He yells at Alex, and Alex yells back, and they get into it. He can practically see Alex light up, his eyes regaining a bit of their spark and a blinding smile spreading across his face.  
They move closer, kind of challenging one another, trying to be louder than the other.  
Alex stops because he starts laughing so hard he can’t keep yelling and Willie stops to listen.

“Feels good, huh?” he asks, his voice a bit hoarse.

Alex nods, grins. “It’s kinda weird but fun. Perks of being rich enough to have a living room like this,”

“Yeah, I’ll have to thank my dad in your name,”

Alex snorts and nods. Then he lets out a long breath, looks around again and becomes visibly uncomfortable again.

“Hey, you okay?” Willie asks immediately.

“What? Yeah. Yeah, I’m just always kinda awkward in houses I don’t know? I’m sorry,” Alex says.

Willie nods. He can understand that, being in new, unknown environments isn’t his favourite thing either, but probably not as bad as it is for Alex.  
So he gives him a tour, to make him somewhat familiar with the house. Shows him the living room, then goes into the dining room he never uses, shows Alex the kitchen and downstairs guest bathroom. Leads Alex up the stairs, to the home gym his dad had installed a few months ago, talks about the time he accidentally locked himself in his dad’s office, and finally, arrives at the door to his bedroom.

It’s messy, clothes and homework and books strewn across the floor.  
He’s pretty sure there are at least three skateboards hidden somewhere around the room, his bed is unmade.

“Sorry about that,” he says, and tries to push some of the clothes into piles.

Alex doesn’t even seem to hear him, just takes it all in.  
He looks more comfortable now, and Willie hopes that he’s right in thinking that it’s because they’re in his space now. Truly his own.

“Uhm… Do you want to do something or go to bed?” he asks, suddenly unsure of how to handle the situation at hand.

Alex starts fiddling with his fingers again and looks at him.

“Can we maybe go to bed? It’s been a really long day,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, sure! Um. There’s a guest bedroom down the hall, I can go sleep there. Or, wait. No. You could sleep there, I’m pretty sure there are sheets on the bed. Or you sleep here. I don’t know,” Willie says.

He wants to slap himself. This is his boyfriend goddamnit, what is he being so fucking awkward for? He scratches the nape of his neck uncomfortably, then starts running his thumb over the scar on his right arm, just beneath his elbow. A remnant of a nasty broken bone that grounds him when he needs it.

“Or we could both sleep in your bed?” Alex propositions in a quiet, almost shy voice. Willie sucks in a breath.

“Or not. I’m sorry, I probably made this weird. It’s cool, I can sleep in the guest bedroom and-”

Willie interrupts him, before Alex can get lost in one of his anxiety fueled attempts at backpaddling.

“We can! I just didn’t want to make things awkward, but I’d actually really like that,” he says.

Alex stops, and they both blush a tiny bit. Or a big bit. His face is hot.

“Okay, cool, that’s. Yeah. Cool,” Alex says, nodding.

Then he stops that, and looks embarrassed.

“Could I borrow some clothes? I kinda forgot to take any,” 

“Of course,” Willie says, immediately makes his way over to his closet and pulls the doors open. Tries not to think about what it means that Alex forgot to take clothes, of he didn't have the time, or was thrown out by his parents. He can be pissed at them later.

“Just take what you want,” he prompts softly.

Alex slowly makes his way over and then just stand in front of the closet, looking unsure.

“I feel weird going through your stuff,” he admits.

“That’s cool, I’ll find you something,” Willie says and presses a kiss to Alex’s cheek for comfort.

He grabs a shirt that’s always been too big on him, from one of his dad’s tours, and a pair of sweatpants he’s cut off at the knee because he’d thought it was goning to be a look. It wasn’t, but he likes them anyway.

Alex goes to change in the bathroom next to Willie’s room, after Willie finds him a toothbrush.  
Willie rushes downstairs to turn off the lights and get a few extra pillows and a blanket in case they need them, then up the stairs again, so he doesn’t leave Alex alone for too long.

Not that he doesn’t trust Alex in his home, he just doesn’t want to leave the other boy alone with his thoughts for too long.  
Alex steps out of the bathroom the moment Willie steps into the hallway and he nearly drops his findings because what the fuck.  
The shirt is also too big on Alex and it’s adorable.

“Looks good on you, Hotdog,” he says.

Alex blushes. Which makes two of them.

Willie throws the pillows and blanket onto his bed and goes to brush his own teeth. When he gets back, Alex is plugging in their phones for the night.

Although getting into bed together is somewhat awkward, they settle in surprisingly fast. They’ve taken naps together a few times already, on the couch in the garage, so they know what positions they'r comfortable with.  
Willie’s on his back, Alex on his stomach, resting his cheek on Willie’s shoulder, an arm thrown over his waist. Willie slings an arm around Alex’s shoulders.

“We forgot to turn the lights off,” Alex mumbles into his shoulder.

Willie wiggles a bit, to get his hands together, then claps twice and the lights turn off. It’s not entirely dark in the room, Willie has a night light because he has a tendency to ram into everything in his room in the dark and both him and his dad have gotten tired of him having bruises all the time. So it casts a very faint light through the room, and Willie can see Alex gasp more than he hears it over the rustle of bedsheets.

“Wow, you’re such a rich person,”

“I’m not,”

“You clap your lights out, William,”

“It’s practical, Alexander. Also my dad had it installed,”

Alex hums in understanding. They lie there, together, for a few minutes, and their breathing starts to synchronize.  
Willie keeps tracing lazy patterns on Alex’s back, and finally, the other boy lets out a long breath, and the tension leaves his body.  
Willie presses a kiss to Alex’s temple. Alex kisses his jaw.

“Thank you. For everything tonight, for taking me in and letting me sleep here.” he whispers.

“Of course,”

“And for not asking questions,” Alex adds. His voice is soft and quiet, a lull to his words that tells Willie that he’s close to drifting off.

“I’m not gonna make you tell stuff that makes you more upset,” he says.

“I’m really lucky to have you,” Alex mumbles and looks up at Willie through his lashes.

The honesty in his voice knocks the air out of Willie’s lungs.

“Same goes for you,” he says.

Alex’s lips twitch. Although his neck strains against it, Willie leans down to kiss Alex on the lips. It tastes strongly of toothpaste, but he doesn’t mind.  
Neither does Alex.  
They part again, sharing a soft smile.  
And they start drifting off, wrapped in a little bubble of their own, where the only thing that matters is their breaths going in the same rhythm and the feeling of hair tickling cheeks and soft yellow light illuminating secret smiles and adoring gazes and the growing, ever growing feelings that neither of them can yet articulate. Their little bubble where they feel warm, and safe, and guarded, if only for a few hours, from everything that weighs down their shoulders normally. Before he drifts into sleep, comforted by Alex’s slow breathing and the smell of him, Willie thinks about all of the firsts they’ve had so far. This first night together is different from what he imagined, but he doesn’t mind.  
He’s looking forward to all that awaits them in the future.  
He can't wait to wake up in the morning with his boyfriend in the same bed, and see Alex's toussled golden hair, and green eyes shine in the morning sun.  
He can't wait for them to eat cereal together, and probably rush to school because Willie is bad at being on time.  
He can't wait for all the firsts he knows are coming, even if some of them might not be nice. Most of them will be. One of them hangs over him, a sword hanging on a string, waiting to be cut loose by the courage to voice a thought, a feeling. Not yet, but soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I'm not a native English speaker so I'm really sorry for any mistakes, but I hope you enjoyed anyway!  
> This was also longer than intended, just like everything else I've ever written that's not for uni, so sorry about that, but the next two works in this series are definitely gonna be shorter!  
> I'm desperately lonely so if you want to chat about jatp or anything, or just see my dumbass making random post, you can find me on Tumblr @[on-irratia](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/on-irratia) if you want to :D.  
> Happy holidays, or not, dependig on your preferences! I hope you have a good day :D <3


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